Event DescriptionWillamette's second event in its Distilled: Pub Talks speaker series will feature historian Bill Smaldone, who will present "What Remains of the Bolshevik Revolution?"

A century ago, the Bolshevik Revolution overthrew capitalism in Russia and established a new communist society, the Soviet Union. “By challenging the established world order, the Bolshevik Revolution inspired millions of people around the world to fight for radical change,” says Smaldone. “At the same time it mobilized millions who feared it and aimed to destroy it. Now — one hundred years after the revolution came to power and a quarter century after the Soviet Union’s demise — it’s worth taking stock of the revolution’s legacy in America and the world.”

Smaldone’s research focuses on 20th century German and European labor. In addition to a textbook on the history of socialism, he’s written two books involving German Social Democrats before and during the rise of Adolph Hitler. Most recently, Smaldone translated and edited two volumes of documents about European socialist thought during the first half of the 20th century.